Ms. Machado, who promised to return to Venezuela after her trip to Norway, arrived late Thursday night at the Grand Hotel, where Nobel laureates usually stay. From the hotel's balcony, she waved to the few dozen jubilant supporters chanting"Libertad!" (Freedom!) in the street and sang the Venezuelan national anthem with them. She plans to hold a press conference in Oslo at 9:15 a.m. GMT. The opposition leader's reappearance comes amid a crisis between Venezuela and the United States, which has deployed a large flotilla in the Caribbean Sea since August, officially to combat drug trafficking, resulting in 87 deaths. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro accuses Washington of wanting to overthrow him in order to seize his country's oil.
Maria Corina Machado, a thorn in Mr. Maduro's side, is criticized by some for the similarity of her ideas to those of US President Donald Trump, to whom she dedicated her Nobel Prize, and supports this American deployment. Donald Trump announced on Wednesday the seizure of an oil tanker off the coast of Venezuela. The 58-year-old opposition figure went into hiding in Venezuela in August 2024, a few days after the presidential election in which she was prevented from participating.
On Wednesday, her daughter Ana Corina accepted the prize on her behalf and read a thank-you speech. The Nobel Committee cited travel in a situation of extreme danger to justify the laureate's absence.
"To the millions of anonymous Venezuelans who have arrived at their homes, to their families and to their lives for love; to their loss is honor, to their loss is day, to their loss is the future": Ana Corina Sosa, wife of María Corina Machado.
— Noticias Caracol (@NoticiasCaracol) December 10, 2025
Cubrimiento especial en…
Ms. Machado's last public appearance was on January 9 at a demonstration in Caracas. It is unclear how the opposition figure managed to leave Venezuela, where she is wanted on charges of conspiracy, incitement to hatred, and terrorism, and how she plans to potentially return.
She risks being arrested if she returns, although the authorities have shown more restraint with her than with many others because an arrest would have a very strong symbolic impact, explained Benedicte Bull, a Latin America specialist at the University of Oslo.
Returning to Venezuela?
Of course I'm going back to Venezuela,Ms. Machado said in an interview with the BBC in Oslo on Thursday.I know exactly the risks I'm taking.
The Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Ms. Machado on October 10 for her efforts in support of a democratic transition in Venezuela.
To have democracy, we must be prepared to fight for freedom, said her daughter on Wednesday in the speech read at Oslo City Hall, in the presence of many members of the laureate's family, Argentine President Javier Milei and other right-wing Latin American heads of state.
¡Oslo, where it is!
— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) December 11, 2025
Referring to the arrests, torture and the hunt for opponents, she denounced crimes against humanity, documented by the United Nations and state terrorism deployed to stifle the will of the people.
The United States, the European Union, and many Latin American countries refuse to recognize the results of last year's presidential election, which allowed socialist Nicolás Maduro to begin a third six-year term. The opposition accuses the government of fraud and has claimed victory for its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, currently in exile and present in Oslo on Wednesday.
The Nobel committee urged the Venezuelan president to step down.
Mr. Maduro, accept the election results and step down, said President Jørgen Watne Frydnes to enthusiastic applause.
